Twice Kissed - Lisa Jackson [148]
Of course she was interested in them. Thane could only guess what self-serving and twisted lies Mary Theresa had told her shrink about her sister and ex-husband. Dr. Kelly, if she wanted to, could probably write volumes on Marquise’s personality and mental state.
However, she had one major flaw. As far as Thane could tell, despite Dr. Kelly’s stellar reputation, she had been unable to propel his ex-wife to better mental health even though Mary Theresa had been her patient for three and a half years.
But then Mary Theresa was the head case to end all head cases.
Maggie asked questions, and Dr. Kelly skillfully dodged most of them. “I’d love to tell you more,” Michelle Kelly explained as she sat in a rocking chair and sipped the foul-smelling tea, “but because of patient-client confidentiality, I really can’t.”
“Do you think Mary Theresa is suicidal?” Maggie asked.
“She suffers from depression. Sometimes it’s worse than others, but…no…I wouldn’t classify your sister as suicidal.” She set her tea down on a tiny table near her chair, removed her glasses, and carefully polished the lenses with the corner of her cardigan sweater.
Obviously, Maggie was relieved and about to end the conversation, but Thane had questions of his own. “Did Marquise ever mention to you that she had the ability to talk to people through mental telepathy?”
Maggie stiffened, and the psychiatrist stopped rubbing her glasses. “You mean without speaking?”
“Right. I’m talking about the ability to throw her voice to someone else.”
Dr. Kelly’s smooth brow furrowed. “No. I don’t think so. And I would remember it if she did, I’m sure. Why?”
“Just something she’d said to me once, a long time ago,” he lied, seeing Maggie turn ghost-white from the corner of his eye. “It probably doesn’t mean anything. She was always rambling on. Just something I remembered.”
Slipping her wire-rims onto her nose, Dr. Kelly asked, “Did you ever see or hear of her doing this?”
“Never. But then she was always saying something outrageous,” he admitted, ending the interview and surviving Maggie’s silent treatment for the half hour it took to return to the hotel.
“I can’t believe you brought up the telepathy thing,” she finally exploded, once they were alone in the hotel room again. She threw her purse and bag on the couch and turned on him. Anger flashed in her eyes, and she planted her fists firmly on her hips. “I told you that in confidence.”
“Don’t you want to find your sister?”
“Of course—I do. You know it!”
“Then we’d better use every means possible, don’t you think?”
“I don’t see how this helps.”
“Everything helps.”
“I’m not sure. Besides, you’re not being honest with me.”
He felt his neck muscles stiffen. “I’m not?”
“No. There’s something you haven’t told me. Something to do with Marquise. You neglected to mention that she’d stayed in your house for three days not too long ago. You never mentioned that you and she still saw each other fairly regularly, and you’re holding back. Now, what is it, Walker?”
He opened his mouth to protest, but the look she sent him warned him not to try and con her. “Respect me enough to be honest, Thane. Considering the circumstances, I think you owe it to me.”
He thought for a long, hard second. How much could he trust Maggie? How would she react to the truth? Hell, he never wanted to tell her this. But it was bound to come out sooner or later. Slowly he unbuttoned his jacket, reached into the inside pocket, and took out his crumpled pack of cigarettes along with a battered book of matches.
“I thought you quit smoking.”
“I did.” He shook out the last filter tip and lit up quickly, drawing in a deep lungful of smoke, then took off his jacket and tossed it over hers on the chair. Crumpling the empty pack of Marlboros, he walked to the fireplace. “Okay,” he said, wondering if he was about to make the worst mistake of his life. He felt the unaccustomed rush of nicotine